The distorted universe of Vincent van Gogh

Amazing! No seriously the Van Gogh museum is worth spending an entire day getting lost in and immersing yourself in his distorted world. Amsterdam on its own is a city filled with art museums, one coffee shop (smoky smoky) after another, canals lining up on each street, every type of food you can imagine, and a whole lot of crazy weird shops with red light districts consisting of half naked hookers dancing in windows surrounding the city. But the Van Gogh stands alone because the art that is displayed throughout the museum really gives you an inside look not only at the variety and wide range of art techniques he mastered but also him as an individual, his mental struggles, and how deeply he influenced the period after him known as Expressionism. Erica and I both were smart enough to get up early to buy tickets in advance and walk over there right when it was opening to avoid the lines. Actually I lied we didn’t pre plan that, our butts just couldn’t sleep past six am. due to soar throats which was as a result of sitting in too many coffee shops the entire day when we arrived yesterday. Those darn coffee shops really have too much incense smoke floating around in there. And for some reason that smoke really made my brain fuzzy, mouth thirsty, and tummy hungry. WEIRD must be some kind of magical incense.
Anyways, when you get into the museum you can purchase an audio tour which explains not only the actual techniques used in the paintings but also the time periods and Van Gogh’s emotions throughout his life which motivated him to paint particular pieces in the way he did. I am so glad that I purchased the audio tour because by no means am I an expert on Van Gogh’s work even though I absolutely love it. Some of my favorites that I learned about was his passion for copying Japanese woodcuts and incorporating it with his style. One piece in particular that stands out was his Blossom Tree. During this time in his life Van Gogh had recently cut off part of his ear in a fitful rage of insanity and checked himself into a mental asylum. His beloved nephew was just born and named after him and as a gift to the newborn, he painted beautiful white blossoms sprouting out of one thick branch with a moody soft blue background. The contrast of the piercing white blossoms with a tint of red in the center displayed on top of a washed out blue canvas is quite soft and appealing to the naked eye although at the same time the contouring is very strong and it makes you literally feel almost tranquil for a moment. The sturdy branch represents strength due to how tall and sturdy it appears while the white blossoms are symbolic of a new life since most are just beginning to bloom. What’s interesting, and here is where the audio tour takes you back in time to really understand the depth of this piece, is that during this period of Van Gogh’s life, he was in such great depression from being trapped in an asylum that his emotions of longing and despair wishing he could be back in the outside world, is portrayed all over the choice of colors in the painting. The cloudy blue represents the longing he is trapped in while the vibrant budding white blossoms are the world outside of the asylum and also his new and pure nephew.
I also really enjoyed seeing a special Expressionist exhibition displayed this month. All of the expressionist pieces displayed were by artists that, like me, were so in love with his work that they incorporated many of his techniques and even imitated a lot of his work but of course added exclusive twists and their own style. I learned that to the Expressionists, Van Gogh was their biggest role model because they too paint with their emotions and although are not as strong in pointillism, portray the power of different light techniques with strong contouring just like Van Gogh did. I loved seeing one expressionist piece that was made during World War 1 because you could feel the despair and turmoil in it like the War itself had its own distinct emotion. This piece looked very similar to some of Van Gogh’s pieces during a time when he too was going through a great state of depression and anguish.
All in all, this magnificent impressionist had the greatest impression on me with how he covers his canvases in small dots with thick and thin lines and layers of bright colored paint. This technique was due to the Neo-Impressionists influence. Every point has so much detail but yet is so distorted because nothing is really blended in. The amount of time he must have spent deciding on how thick to make each point and the choice of color for each must have been endless. But yet this genius who didn’t even know he had a talent for art until much later in his life, made one masterpiece after another. While I was learning about his depression and how he really focused on expressing his emotions and moods through the amount of light he portrayed in his work I discovered one of his favorite cities is Auvers-sue-Oise. Umm yeah, Auvere de what is exactly what I thought too. So the reason why I found this interesting is because Erica and I have been talking about how much we enjoy just wondering around enjoying the little things of each place and immersing ourselves in the towns culture and atmosphere without being too preoccupied with planning exactly what we have to see and how productive we must be. Well sure enough I was just thinking when I was looking at Van Gogh’s Paris pieces how so many emanate his emotions of stress, hustle, and bustle, and chaos. But when he removed himself from Paris during his last two years of life to Auvers-sur-Oise, which is located in an artist’s village outside of Paris, the colors are much more vibrant and although they are not soft pastels that make you feel so peaceful like some of Monet’s work, they are cheerful and cookey and weird just like Van Gogh. Most of these pieces made in this village portray vineyards, old houses with thatched roofs and the cornfields. In order to depict the vast landscapes and open spaces in this village, he began painting on much wider rectangular canvases in attempt to grasp all the colors and layers in the sky and fields. Going back on why I found this so interesting is because I too don’t want to spend the precious time I have when I arrive in France stressed out like Van Gogh in Paris with all the chaos of the city life. Instead, I would much rather spend my time in little villages outside of Paris that look like Van Gogh’s happy paintings such as in Auvres-sur-Oise so that I too can incorporate these feelings of happy emotions, obviously not through paintings because I can’t seem to even draw a straight line with a ruler, but through my own mind, love for rich food, photography, and writing. After all, as I learned from someone I met in Amsterdam, the universe will unravel as it should, so why waste time in a state of anxiety and stress?